“Purchase mortgage application demand saw the second highest weekly increase over the last year, and thanks to a spike in refinancing activity, overall mortgage demand rose to the highest level since the fall of 2016,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “While the housing market has faced many headwinds the last few months, it sailed through the turbulence to calmer seas with demand buttressed by a strong labor market and low mortgage rates. The benefits of the decline in mortgage rates that we’ve seen this year will continue to unfold over the next few months due to the lag from changes in mortgage rates to market sentiment and ultimately home sales.”

Freddie Mac reports the following national average mortgage rates for the week ending April 4:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.08 percent, with an average 0.5 point, rising from last week’s 4.06 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.40 percent.